AVO Is Not an Achilles Heel But a Valuable Tool for Successful Exploration West of Shetland

Approximately 40 wells have been positioned on an amplitude or AVO anomaly located within the Palaeocene West of Shetland, but only nine encountered notable hydrocarbons. Many of these failed wells were positioned on interpreted AVO anomalies. To try to understand the reasons for this failure we performed an in-depth study of four wells. We argue that, despite the failures, AVO forms a valuable tool for exploration.